Electrical connectors are used in pluggable, including hot-pluggable, power supply applications. The standard range of connectors offers wide versatility of power distribution circuitry, allowing AC power into and DC power out of a power supply for current up to 200 amps in a compact housing. The connector plan form, or contact layout, can be made compatible with the requirements for minimizing the noise properties of power supplies including those for switched mode power supplies. Electrical contacts are layed-out within a connector housing. These electrical contacts are known by many names including but not limited to inserts, conductive contacts, and conductive pins. Available contacts include crimp, solder and printed circuit board tail for direct backplane mounting. Rack and panel connector systems are available for use in applications ranging from the very high power requirements of UPS systems to high pin count connectors required for ATE. Rack and panel systems can be used in any electrical or electronic product where currents are high, reliability a must and low power losses essential. Typical applications include: data processing terminals, computer main frames, telecommunications equipment, switching equipment, UPS systems, automatic test equipment, burn-in systems, and power supplies.
In the electrical connector industry, there have been insertable and removable (i.e., extractable) contacts around for quite some time. These contacts are broken down into rear release and front release. The front is defined as that portion of the connector where the pin projects or the entry to the socket access resides. Up until now in both the rear release and the front release contacts, removal of the contact/wire is from the rear of the connector housing only. Accessibility to the rear of the connector housing is a hinderance, and replacing or redressing wires is a problem. For the rear extraction only contacts, the equipment box containing the connector housing has to be opened up, and often times the connector housing removed from the box in order to replace or redress wires or contacts.
FIGS. 10 and 11 are typical examples of a rear release/rear extraction retention clips of the prior art. Retention clip 500 is generally cylindrical in shape with barbs 502 projecting inwardly. Barbs 502 are biased inward such that when pin contact 27 is inserted through opening 504 in the back of the connector housing 26. The barbs are pushed aside by collar 33 until the pin contact is fully inserted into the connector housing then barbs 502 return to their inward position and engage surface 50 of collar 33.
This type of retention clip is known as rear release/rear extraction because a rear release/rear extraction tool 506 is slid over wire 508 from the rear of the connector housing after the equipment box (not shown) that houses the connector housing 26 has been removed. Tool 506 is pushed into opening 504 toward surface 50. As forward annular edge 510 comes in contact with barbs 502, it pushes the barbs back toward cavity inner surface 512 just as collar 33 did when pin contact 27 was inserted into the housing. Tool 506 is inserted until annular edge 510 abuts surface 50. Tool 506 holds the barbs free from collar 33 as pin contact 27, tool 506 and wire 508 are removed through opening 504 in the rear of connector housing 26.
However, in panel mounted connectors located at the back of an enclosure where equipment such as a power supply may be installed on a track, only front access is available to the connector housing, therefore it would be desirable to have a front release/front extractable retention clip.